Medieval Torture Devices: Rat Torture
Facebook/Medieval Torture Museum (Los Angeles)One of the most disgusting medieval torture devices involved a cage and a number of rats.
The last medieval torture device on our list is perhaps the worst of them all. Rat torture was used to great effect in the Middle Ages as an interrogation technique.
Like many other torture devices on this list, rat torture was cruelly simple. The victim would be tied down and a bottomless cage would be placed on their abdomen. Then, the cage would be filled with rats.
According to the Torture Museum, this was often enough to get someone to start talking. Filled with fear and disgust, a victim might confess to just about anything. But the torture had an even more gruesome component.
Dimitris Kamaras/FlickrA depiction of a someone undergoing rat torture at the Torture Museum in Bruges, Belgium.
After the cage was filled with rats, the interrogator would use hot coals to heat up the cage. And the rats, desperate to escape the heat, would start to burrow through the victim’s abdomen.
In all, medieval torture devices range from the terribly violent — like the Spanish Donkey — to the more psychologically torturous — like immurement. But they were all terrible. Faced with an interrogator and his tools, it’s no wonder that most people would quickly confess.
If you enjoyed reading about the most painful torture devices of the Middle Ages, head over to the most painful medicine and medical procedures of Medieval times and our collection of interesting facts. Finally, read up on the five worst ways to die.
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